The Birthday Request

I had a conversation with my husband earlier last week that went a little something like this:

Me: What would you like for your birthday dinner?
Husband: Chicken Parmesan and mashed potatoes.
Me: Chicken Parmesan and mashed potatoes? Together? In one meal?
Husband: My dad always used to make mashed potatoes with Chicken Parmesan.
Me: Your family has the most bizarre eating habits.
Husband: How about Chicken Parmesan, mashed potatoes, and pasta?
Picture me rolling my eyes.

I did feel bad after this conversation, because later he recanted on his mashed potatoes request and went with broccolini instead. I would have made mashed potatoes. I believe in birthday dinners and the birthday boy should get whatever meal he desires. But it was too late, he said he didn't really want them and yes, I felt horrible. I stole the fun out of the birthday dinner. I didn't play by my own birthday rules. But, I do have to stand by my words, his family does have some bizarre eating habits. I believe there have been stories that involve sandwiches made up of peanut butter, lettuce and mayonnaise. Enough said.

But my guilt stayed with me and so Lyla and I set out to make it the best possible birthday celebration ever, even if it did not involve mashed potatoes. We picked the birthday boy up from work and took him out to lunch. Happily fed and after a few squeezes from Lyla we dropped him back off and then hurried home to wrapped all of his presents. Lyla wanted to make sure he had something special to get him through the rest of his work day, so she posed pretty and gave her best birthday smile for a picture.

And with her picture, she even sent a little note that said:

"Dear Daddy,

Happy Birthday.

Love,

Lyla

P.S. Hurry home, we  have Apple Pie."

Lyla provide her own little birthday present, by taking a nice little nap so that I was able to prepare the birthday meal. To get started I butterflied, cut and pounded out all my chicken breasts, so that they were as thin and tender as possible. Next I prepared my parmesan coatings. In one bowl I combined flour and oregano. In another, one egg, beaten. And finally in the third bowl, I added bread crumbs seasoned with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

I coated each piece of chicken first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.

Next, I heated up a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a saute pan. Once hot, I added the chicken and browned it on each side. Before flipping the chicken over, I added additional olive oil to ensure that it would brown on both sides. I repeated this with each piece of chicken.

Normally I would finish off the chicken in the saute pan by placing the entire pan in the oven. However, I had so much chicken that I decided to transfer all of them to a large baking pan.

Next, I began to add my toppings. First the tomato sauce (homemade or jarred, whichever you prefer). Then the freshly grated cheeses (mozzarella, followed by parmesan.)

I finished cooking the chicken in a 450 degree oven. I let them bake for roughly 5-7 minutes, until the chicken was completely cooked through (keep in mind I pounded out the chicken making it very thin, if  you use whole chicken breasts you will need to increase the cooking time.)

While the chicken was baking I focused on the broccolini by first cutting and cleaning it.

I then placed it in a steaming pan over a pot of water and simply seasoned it with a little bit of salt and pepper.

After the water began to boil and had begun to steam the broccolini for a few minutes, I squeezed the juice of half a lemon over top of the pan.

I let it finish steaming for a few more minutes and then removed it from the heat. You do not want to over cook the broccolini. You only want to let it steam until it is bright green and tender. If you steam it for too long it will begin to brown. Once removed from the meat, I sprinkled it with a bit of parmesan cheese and covered it so that the cheese would melt.

By this point, the chicken was finished cooking and ready to come out of the oven.

I plated the chicken along side of the lemon broccolini and a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and let the birthday boy dig in.

After the birthday dinner was complete, Lyla happily helped her Daddy open a few of his presents (although she refused to smile for the camera).

She was excited, she just hid it well.

Someone was a little tired by the end.

Hopefully the birthday boy enjoyed his meal, even minus the mashed potatoes. Next time I make Chicken Parmesan, you better believe there will be a side of mashed potatoes to go along with it. Oh, and just as Lyla promised, there was apple pie and ice cream.

The birthday boy finished his pie before a picture could be taken!

Happy Birthday Adam and I promise not to question your birthday meal next year, that is, as long as you do not request peanut butter, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches.